


The Ways You Say You Love Me.

by blurrylinesandmessylife



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Idiots in Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-03
Updated: 2018-10-07
Packaged: 2019-06-04 18:42:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15153278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blurrylinesandmessylife/pseuds/blurrylinesandmessylife
Summary: We all have our little ways we express affection.For Maggie Sawyer, it's through post-it notes.





	1. Words

**Author's Note:**

> Borrowing the common trope of “an idiot in love leaves the idiot who loves her back random little love letters to show she cares” because my pathetic ass needs some cheering up. 
> 
> Italics are post-it notes  
> Bold italics are text messages, throughout.

Alex groans as the morning sun filters into her bedroom, jarring her awake. She reaches behind her, hand blindly seeking out Maggie, becoming more conscious the more she struggles to find the body she seeks.

After a few fruitless moments, Alex flips around, pouting when she finds Maggie’s side of the bed empty, a hot pink post-it note resting on the pillow where her girlfriend’s head should be. Alex picks up the note, lip pulled between her teeth as she reads,

_Got called in around 5. Tried to kiss you goodbye but you wanted no part of it. I made a pot of coffee for you anyway, you jerk._

Alex thumbs Maggie’s sweeping scrawl, a small smile on her face. She wanders into the kitchen, post-it still in hand, and pours herself a cup of coffee. She slinks onto a stool as she dreamily reads and re-reads Maggie’s note in the quiet morning solitude.

Eventually, Alex looks at the clock and reluctantly pulls herself up to get ready for work. She slips the note into her wallet, in the little nook normally reserved for pictures of loved ones, and carries on with her day.

////

A week later, they’re back in Alex’s apartment, waiting for the pizza guy. When the doorbell rings, Alex is in the shower.

“Babe, pizza guy’s here.” Maggie yells out.

“Can you grab it? My wallet’s on the counter.” Comes Alex’s muffled reply.

Maggie opens Alex’s tri-fold wallet, pulling out some money and frowning when a pink post-it tumbles to the floor. Ignoring it for a moment, Maggie pays the pizza guy, nudging the door closed with her hip and slipping the pizza box onto the kitchen island before squatting down to pick up the fallen piece of paper.

She unfolds it carefully, snorting when she realizes Alex kept her post-it from last week. Maggie tucks it back in the wallet and then reaches for the post-it pad on the counter, jotting another quick note and slipping it to Alex's wallet as well.

//////

Alex finds the second note the next day.

_Knew you were gettin’ soft on me, Danvers._

Alex laughs, ripping Maggie's second note up before pulling out her phone and snapping a photo of the florescent pieces of paper. She sends that, and then a text, off to Maggie. **_I am not soft._**

**_Couldn’t bear to rip up that first note though, eh?_** Maggie teases back.

Alex groans when she realizes the original post-it also made it in the photo, still in tact.

**_No, it’s just... The first is a reminder that, sometimes, you’re charming. Right now isn’t one of those times, mind you, but…you have your moments._ **

**_Hmm…Sounds pretty soft to me._** Maggie texts back, and Alex doesn’t need to hear Maggie say it to feel the affection behind her words.

/////

That’s how it begins. From then on, it becomes their _thing._ Every few days, Alex will find a new note.

Usually, Maggie’s goal is to make Alex blush.

And blush Alex does when she finds a post it in her jeans pocket, mid-conversation with J’onn that reads: _Wish my hand were in your pocket instead, sweet cheeks._ Alex lets out an undignified squeak whileJ’onn pinches the bridge of his nose, and neither boss nor mentee can look the other in the eye for the remainder of the day.

Then there’s the note Alex finds taped to her microscope's stage, under the lens, with a crude drawing of what Alex can only assume is a stick figured Maggie, with a word bubble that says _eyes on me, Danvers_.

Alex nearly chokes on her own spit when she finds the post-it Maggie leaves on the bathroom mirror after her shower that croons _knowing you’re wet in here has me wet out there. Come help a girl out?_

Occasionally though, the notes are earnest.

There’s the note Alex finds in her Kevlar breast pocket that reads _Please stay safe out there, baby._

And the one she finds in her makeup bag that promises _you’re so beautiful, with or without makeup._

Alex almost cries the night she finds the post-it note Maggie leaves in the key bowl that simply states, _It might be cliché, but it’s true: You’re my home, Alex._

And sometimes, the notes highlight just how thoughtful Maggie is.

Like the note Alex arrives home to one evening, mere minutes before Kara’s due over for movie night. Alex sighs as she walks through the door and smells food, relieved Maggie picked up the night’s provisions for her. Alex finds a note perched atop two-dozen donuts and a plate of pot stickers that reads _Kara’s plate._ Below Maggie’s scrawl is an arrow pointing to an adjacent, much smaller, plate of food that also has a post-it on it. That post-it reads,

_Alex’s* (and Kara’s bonus) plate._

_*ALEX: Check the cupboard to the right of the sink._

Alex walks over the cupboard, opening it and laughing when she finds a brand new box of Oreos with a post it pressed on top that demands, _ONLY FOR ALEX DANVERS’ CONSUMPTION. NO ONE ELSE. (MY GIRL NEEDS TO EAT, TOO, KARA)._

////

Alex’s favorite note though, the one that makes her heart soar, is the note Maggie writes in front of her on an otherwise unimportant night, a few months into the game and half a year into their relationship.

Maggie’s head rests in Alex’s lap, her fingers playing idly with Alex’s as they watch TV in companionable silence. At a commercial, Maggie looks up at Alex, a pensive look on her face as her hand reaches up to cup Alex’s cheek. Alex looks down, cheeks tinged pink under Maggie’s gaze and soft caress. 

“What – do I have something on my face?” Alex asks self-consciously.

Maggie sits up, then, hastily reaching out for the now ubiquitous post-it pad and a pen. She turns her back slightly so Alex can’t read over her shoulder, quickly scribbling out a note. Maggie folds the note, turns back and hands it over to Alex, a shy smile tugging at her lips. Alex takes the note with a furrowed brow, gasping at the words staring up at her.

_I love you, Alex Danvers._

Alex smirks, before grabbing the pen and adding a sentence just below Maggie’s.

_Who’s gettin’ soft now?_

Maggie opens her mouth to protest, but Alex places her finger against Maggie’s lips, shushing her. She offers Maggie a wink as she stands, walking into her bedroom in silence, Maggie’s curious gaze on her the whole way. When Alex returns, she has dozens of post-its in her hand, including the ripped up post-it that spurred on the whole charade, now taped back together like a patchwork quilt.

Maggie laughs, a little weepy, while Alex takes the most recent note back, adding one more sentence to it. She hands the note off with a soft kiss to Maggie’s cheek.

_I love you, Maggie Sawyer. Forever._

_/////_

A year later, Kara has that post-it framed for Alex and Maggie as a wedding gift.


	2. Touch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If Maggie's love language is words, Alex's is through touch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I'm back with a tiny companion ficlet because I cannot quit these two dorks no matter how much I try.

Prior to coming out, Alex Danvers swore she wasn’t built for intimacy.

It wasn’t even a denial thing because, if the first 29 years of her life were to be believed, Alex had scientific _proof_ that intimacy wasn’t her speed. 

When ex-boyfriends threw a casual arm over her shoulder, she’d shirk away. When Max Lord tried to feed her with his fork, it took every ounce of self-restraint to not shove that fork in his eyeball. She never yearned for a hand to hold when walking down the street. She declined any and all cuddling post-sex.

In short, when given the choice, Alex preferred to go at life alone.

But then Maggie came along, and suddenly, intimacy was _all_ Alex craved.

Suddenly, Alex needed Maggie’s head in her lap so her fingers could comb through Maggie’s beautiful hair as they watched TV. Alex found her hand constantly trailing up and down Maggie’s arm, soothing and steady. 

Her bed felt empty if Maggie wasn’t next to her. Her bed felt _wrong_ if there wasn’t a naked Maggie in it.

In short, the ever-independent Alex Danvers _wanted_ Maggie. Always.

Alex spent weeks hypothesizing about her sudden switch in temperament, but kept drawing the same conclusion: there wasn’t enough science in the world to explain how 29 years of evidence could be negated so quickly by one adorably dimpled 5’2 detective.

Unless…

///

“Hey, babe?” Alex asks one day as she and Maggie sit in companionable silence on the couch, each woman catching up on their respective paperwork, Maggie’s feet propped in Alex’s lap.

Maggie hums, distracted as she continues to read. When she feels Alex’s hand still on her shin, Maggie finally looks up. A frown settles on her features when she sees Alex worrying her lip.

“You okay?” Maggie asks, tossing her report on the table and pulling her feet off Alex’s lap. She scoots closer on the couch, placing a tentative hand at the base of Alex’s neck.

Alex sighs, grabbing Maggie’s other hand and pressing her lips to Maggie’s knuckles. “Why do you think I touch you so much?”

Maggie tilts her head, confused. “I…I’m sorry, what?”

Alex throws an arm around Maggie’s shoulders, tucking Maggie into her side. “I’ve never dated someone I’ve wanted to touch this much. My hands seem to have a mind of their own these days. It’s…confusing.”

Maggie smirks up from her spot against Alex’s shoulder. “You gettin’ soft on me?”

Alex _pffts_ , pressing a kiss to Maggie’s temple before continuing, “I’m serious, though. Why do you think it took me so long to realize I’m-” Alex pauses, sighing before yielding with a groan, “-soft?”

Maggie slips her hand under Alex’s shirt, palm resting on Alex’s abdomen, intentionally matching Alex’s softness in an attempt to soothe.

“I don’t know if I can answer that for you, Danvers, but I _am_ glad you like touching me because I like touching _you_.” Maggie offers a teasing pinch to Alex’s side to drive home her point.

Alex giggles before settling into silence for a few moments. She swallows the lump in her throat before whispering aloud, “I show love through touch. I think that’s the answer.”

Maggie’s hand stills against Alex’s stomach, pulling back slightly to look at Alex.

Alex smiles nervously, tucking Maggie’s hair behind her ear, thumbing Maggie’s cheek, before adding, “I’ve never been in a relationship with someone I’ve loved before. That’s what’s different.”

Maggie nods with a tender smile, softly urging Alex to continue because she knows her scientist girlfriend needs to work through this hypothesis aloud.

“I’ve always been so physical with the people I care about most. I mean, look at me and Kara, me and J’onn. Hell, I’m 29 years old and look at how I practically leapt into my Dad’s arms when he came back.” Alex scoffs, pursing her lips in the way that Maggie has come to adore.

Maggie slips her hand into Alex’s, squeezing gently in support. Alex looks down at their entwined hands, bolstering her to continue.

“Romantic intimacy always evaded me though. I never wanted this.” She squeezes Maggie’s hand again. “I kept everyone I dated at an arms length and did the bare minimum to keep them around because that’s what I was supposed to do. I’ve never loved anyone _like that_. But now…”

Alex maneuvers so Maggie’s on her back, hovering above her, whispering into their shared space, “I love you. And I’m affectionate with the people I love.”

Maggie leans up, meeting Alex for a quick peck before Alex lets her body weight rest fully against Maggie, her head falling in crook of Maggie’s neck.

“What do you think?” Alex mumbles against Maggie’s skin.

Maggie’s fingers slowly trail through Alex’s hair, Maggie’s lips pressing against Alex’s head as she answers, “I _know_ I love you, too. A helluvalot.”


End file.
